“Never look down on a day of small beginnings.”

Whether you have ever heard that quote before or not, I want to challenge you today to take it to heart. Think about what BIG things you’ve accomplished in your life that started out with a very small beginning.  

• Maybe it was walking through the doors of a school on a first day of class and now you hold advanced degrees.

• Maybe it was trying out for a ball team when you were uncertain if you could even make the first cut, but you eventually went on to play that sport at a high level one day.

• Maybe it was overcoming a shyness (or a real fear) towards a relationship that has now become one of the most important and meaningful in your life.

• Maybe it was sketching out an idea on a napkin only later to see it become a physical, tangible reality that benefits countless others.

No matter what you count as a success in your life to this point, it most certainly started with a small step… a small decision…a small action…a small beginning.

So with that said, today I want to challenge you to consider what NEW small beginning do you need to make for the next BIG thing in your life?   What needs to happen today that will build momentum for you to win in the future?

No matter what that small beginning is, NEVER look down on it as it is merely the first step towards your future greatness!

3 Ways To Get More Call-Backs (More Fun Than You Think)

When salespeople leave messages the intent is always to get a callback. But what happens when the calls stop getting returned, when your prospects lose interest in your approach and move on to someone else? You have to switch up your approach – make it fun!

Before we delve into the “fun” stuff, you (as the salesperson) need to have have a clear idea of what the proposed outcome of the call is. Whether it’s to provide information, inquire about a proposal your sent or close a sale, knowing the desired outcome and purpose of the call is key to not wasting time (something the buyer will appreciate).  

1. Lot’s of times salespeople leave too long of messages. You should leave your name, number and perhaps a funny quip to catch their attention. For example, leave a message in this vein: “Hello [name], I was talking with your competitors earlier this week and it seems that you-” Cutting the message off at place like this leaves the voicemail as a cliffhanger, and if delivered with humorous intentions, 9/10 the prospect will get back to you.
2. Still not getting that call back? Try generating sympathy (again in a humorous way). Have your kid call inquiring about the proposal; have him/her drop the “I really hope this sale lands for Daddy so I can still go to college” bomb. You’ll get that call back within the hour.
3. It’s also important that the salesperson takes a look at him/herself. What does your voicemail message say? What is the tone of your voicemail message? Every medium of communication should reflect your personality.

The most basic piece of advice is to just keep it light. Be professional but be human. Make it fun, because lot’s of sales people are taking it all way too seriously. At the end of the day it’s all about creating an experience for the customer, so they feel an emotional energy and feel inclined to come back to you.

What Successful Sellers Know About Buyer Engagement

Buyers are changing, they’re more jaded and self-educated than ever before and are consistently moving further and further along in the buying process without talking to a salesperson. (60% of buyers are all the way through the process before first communication with a salesperson)

All of this has changed the way salespeople need to approach buyers. Sellers need to meet the buyers where they are and not force them backwards. For a long time people were trained to use standard sales processes, but these are just too simple and linear for our current landscape. The best companies are noticing this and have started to utilize technology to gain insight into where the buyers are and how they are progressing. These companies are finding that they need to earn the right to talk to the buyers by providing valuable insights into their purchasing process and eventual decision.

Another thing contributing to all of this is the idea that marketing and sales are converging more and more. Marketers need to be looking at real engagement data to see what content customers are actually engaging with and consuming. What are sellers using in their outreach? Allow the marketers to tune that material up so you (the seller) can play a more valuable role in the choice. Things like real-time analytics help everyone get on the same page. They give insight to not only how we engage customers in real-time, but how to tune content, forecast better, and make better choices with how we use the valuable selling time.

One thing is for certain: you need a proper sales toolkit for your team. In addition, we find that you need a unified toolkit that the people in the field can utilize just as easy as those at their desk. Utilizing mobile apps, the Cloud etc. is so important. You need your team to be able to sell anywhere – this is the real promise of technology.

The consequences of companies who are not aware of these tools or who are unwilling to adapt is that they’re losing the edge. And without that edge you’re looking at a severe disadvantage within the field.

Why You Should Implement Sales Coaching

Looking at most of the literature and data out there, one quickly realizes that emphasis is typically placed on “how to coach” or the coaching model.

“In sales organizations where the sales coaching ‘exceeds expectations,’ 94% of the sales reps achieved quota. Where ‘coaching needs improvement,’ only 84% achieved quota.”

This is a phenomenal increase. However, it is also important to bring it back to the motivations surrounding why you’re coaching and then revisit the how.

There is a lack of leverage that comes with all the activities a sales manager has to do. Managing performance, attending conferences, going to meetings etc., are all activities that really don’t promote improvement within the sales team. The only activity that can improve results is coaching the sales team on how to sell better with focus put on the key selling skills. Let’s say you’re managing 3 sales teams and they are all able to produce better results – this is what gives managers leverage.

Key selling skills range from the ability to prospect new businesses and call planning, to fundamental question-asking and listening skills. The important thing in all of this is to approach sales conversations with the intent of generating a fluid, valuable conversation with the potential customer.

One issue that has arose is that managers are often resistant to conduct sales coaching. Lot’s of them feel they don’t have the skills to coach properly, or feel like they don’t have the time to do so. There are some managers that fear coaching because it’s such a drastic switch from being an individual contributor and only having to worry about their own sales, to becoming a manager. Managers need to switch their mindset from “I’m trying to sell to…” to “I’m trying to inspire others to sell;” when a manager can empower others, the results become quite profound.

For sales managers who feel they don’t have the time to coach because of long weeks, travel, or whatever else it may be, know that this is a legitimate concern. Coaching does take patients, and will take time up front. But, focusing only on this idea of time is very short-sighted. As your team gets coaching, they will become more empowered and this will result in a better team overall. It will take time at the start, but the long term result of you not having to be the chief problem solver is well worth it.  

Improving The Accuracy of Your Sales Forecast

Having sales associates match the sales forecast is every sales manager’s dream… But with so many factors affecting a successful forecast, sales managers are struggling.

We here at Growth Strategy Dynamics believe there are three things that are critical to achieving the forecast 100%:

1. Understanding what factors are affecting the for forecast, your deals and pipeline: In many cases, not closing the sale doesn’t come down to a “yes” or “no,” but rather no decision being made at all regarding the deal. The reason for this? Sales associates are lacking visibility. Reps are selling at one level, but then lose visibility as the client moves along the funnel, so aren’t made aware of higher-up decisions being made that affect their ability to close the sale (i.e. budget cuts).

2. Discipline: As a sales manager, you need have discipline. You have to be actively and regularly inspecting the pipeline and must be managing the entire sales process – from start to finish, from cold call to final decision.

3. Don’t get stuck in the idea that you can automate the entire forecasting process: There is a lot of pressure put on forecast accuracy, resulting in a large amount of analytic/measurement tools being developed. Though this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is leading industry people to believe that you don’t need the managers’ continuous coaching or inspection. This just is not true; an automated process does not always result in an accurate forecast. These tools must be coupled with managers’ coaching, because without proper inspection things get missed. These tools may be able to identify the problems, but it is the managers who have to fix them. The solution? Managers must start (and continue) coaching early in the sales process in order to catch the issues before they grow.